GEORGI AND THE BUTTERFLIES
Georgi and the Butterflies tells the story of a man and his dream. This man is Dr Georgi Lulchev, a psychiatrist, neurologist, administrator, amateur chef, entrepreneur and Director of the Home #6 for Psychologically Challenged Men. His dream is to organise a farm in the yard of the Home, situated in a former 16th century monastery 20 km away from Sofia, where the patients can raise snails, ostriches and pheasants, produce silk fibres and soy bread.
In a country where 80% of the population live in poverty, every day is marked by the struggle to survive. To overcome the shortage of funds, the Director organises different activities for subsistence. During the last 15 years, Georgi has tried to implement some unconventional business ideas, failed and resumed his efforts with unflagging enthusiasm.
This is a story full of optimism, snails, ostriches, silk, charity, soy bread, schizophrenics, foreign investors, Western hunters, misery and compassion.
Compassion, business, butterflies.
Andrey Paounov
Andrey Paounov has been a bartender in Prague, a cook in Washington DC, a gardener in Toronto, a boom operator in New York, and an accounting clerk in San Francisco. He has just finished his first documentary feature “Georgi and the
Butterflies”.
Education
1995 - 2000 National Academy for Dramatic and Film Arts
M.F.A. Film Directing
Nominations & Awards
2004 Georgi and the Butterflies - Silver Wolf competition, IDFA 2004, Amsterdam
2003 Lucy Tsak Tsak included in Full Frame - Documentary Shorts DVD
2003 Berlinale, Talent Campus participant
2002 Selected IDFA Forum (Amsterdam)
2002 Selected IDF Forum (Prague)
2002 Subsidy from National Film Center - Bulgaria
2001 Prix du jury - Molodist International Film Festival, Kyiv, Ukraine
2001 Special mentions - Biennial of Moving Images, Geneva, Switzerland
2002 Best Online Film- Flickerfest, Sydney, Australia
2002 Best Very Short Film - Venice International Short Film Festival
1995 Grand Prix, International Student Film Festival, Varna
Selected Filmography
2004 Georgi and the Butterflies
screenwriter and director
documentary, 60 min., colour, 35 mm
Produced by AGITPROP
In association with: Channel 4, CBC, WGBH, YLE TV2
Documentaries, NRK, SVT, HOS
With the support of the National Film Center - Bulgaria
Distributed by TV2 / Danmark
2003 Juke Box weekly music TV show
(Channel 1 - Bulgarian National Television)
2003 Advertisement clips, music videos
2003 One day of One ; International Operator
screenwriter and director
AGITPROP was founded in 1998 by Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov, cinematographers and photographers, in order to realise creative projects in the field of filmmaking, TV and video production, photography and graphic design. Martichka Bozhilova (degree in Law and Art Management) is head of film production of AGITPROP since 1999. Throughout the years AGITPROP has worked mainly with young, open-minded and talented directors and filmmakers.
Selected Filmography
2004 Corridor #8 (documentary, 52 min., colour, video), directed by Boris Despodov (in progress); 2004 EURODOC Workshop (France) ; SOURCES 2 Workshop (Norway)
2004 Us 4 Revisited (documentary, 90 min., colour, video), directed by Valentin Valchev (in progress); 2004 ExOriente Workshop; IDF Forum (Jihlava); IDFA FORUM
2004 The Story of Olga (documentary, 40 min., colour, video and 30” videospot), directed by Valentin Valchev; distributed by Care Bulgaria
2004 Georgi and the Butterflies (documentary, 60 min., colour, 35 mm), directed by Andrey Paounov; with the support of the National Film Center – Bulgaria; In association with Channel 4, WGBH, YLE TV2 Documentaries, NRK, SVT, HOS, CBC; distributed by TV2 / Danmark
2002 IDFA Forum (Amsterdam) ; IDF Forum (Jihlava); 2004 IDFA Silver Wolf Competition, selected
2003 Central Express documentary TV programme, 60 min. – 2 episodes on Bulgaria (6 short documentaries) , produced for RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana – Rai Educational and the European Commission
2000 Rehearsal - the Great Voices of Bulgaria (documentary, 54 min., DV, colour), directed by Boyko Boyanov
1999-2001 Photomaton – a monthly TV programme on photography and video art, for Channel 1 of the Bulgarian National Television
1997 Advertising video spots and short documentaries, realised at the Fabrica (BENETTON, Italy) by Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov; broadcast by ARTE, MTV, Canale 5
1997-2004 Advertising, music and theatrical video spots
Producer of numerous experimental short videos
Member of the European Documentary Network